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Phonology The Latin transliteration of Ja uses an alphabet of 16 letters: A /ɑ/, /a/ K /k/ E /e/, /ɛ/ H /h/ I /i/, /ɪ/ J /ʒ/ or /ʤ/; /ʃ/ after /t/ L /l/ M /m/ N /n/ O /ɔ/, /o/ P /p/ R /r/ S /s/ T /t/ U /u/, /ʊ/ V /v/. - Overall, the letters sound the way you would expect them to be (standard Latin pronunciation). All letters are generally pronounced the same way regardless of their placement. - As an exception from this rule, the letter "i" tends to form diphthongs /aɪ/, /eɪ/, /oɪ/ and /uɪ/ when it follows another vowel; other vowels are pronounced separately from each other. Ja words are stressed on the last root vowel. Most often, this turns out to be the penultimate syllable, or the last syllable if the word ends with a consonant. In a multi-syllable word, when the stress falls in an unusual place, it is sometimes denoted by an accent: á, é, í, ó, ú. (We will do this more often here than what is usually seen in Ja texts, where accents may be ommitted altogether.) In certain grammatical constructions the accent is also put on one-syllable words. Phonotactics Generally, Ja syllable structure can be described as ©v©. Out of all consonants, however, K, H, J and P cannot be syllable-final, while V and T can end a syllable but cannot be word-final. Examples Basic Grammar Ja has a very simple and regular grammar. Noun A Ja noun has four cases, each marked with its distinctive ending. ''Nominative'' A noun in Nominative has zero ending: su (water),'' junotó'' (toy), punsé (tree), kojemijas (airplane). Note that with words in Nominative, the stress is always on the last syllable. Nominative is used for the subjects of a sentence or a subordinate clause. Nominative is also used when two nouns are linked with the copula oa: Ku oa men ju sívao sorsunoté! -- You are the man I saw yesterday! ''Accusative'' A noun in the Accusative case receives the ending ''-u'': sú, junotou, punseu, kojemijasu. Note that if the word already ends with ''-u'', u'' is not doubled but instead it receives the accent mark. Accusative denotes the direct object of a transitive verb. In composite verbs (and the majority of verbs in Ja are composite) the ''signature of the verb is defined by its last (main) root: whatever object the root-verb takes will also be the object of the composite verb. For example, the verb mia (to move) may take an object -- the thing that is being moved. Therefore, the composite verb jaemia (to think, lit. "to move in one's head") also takes a direct object, and, unlike in English, the phrase Ju jaemia kú (I am thinking of you) needs no prepositions. On the other hand, the verb sattia (to learn) has the root tia (to come, to become) which in this form is intransitive (the transitive form of tia means "to bring"). Therefore, sattia cannot have direct objects either, and in Ju sattia sati Jau (I am learning Ja) an adverbial is required before Jau. (Lit. "I learn to know Ja".) Category:Languages